Do you need distiller?

[JEL888]

I can't be the only person who has hunted the web and Adobe forums (without resolution) to know if you need both distiller and acrobat pro?  If all I need to do it open, modify and create pdf's do I need distiller?  Also, Adobe apps are driving me batty with all the bloatware added when you install an app.  All I want to use is acrobat pro, period.  Why to I have creative cloud app manager, distiller, etc...?  And HOW can I get rid of everything except the bare minimum I need to run adobe acrobat pro?

[moved by moderator from non-technical lounge to Creating PDFs]

[jane-e · Accepted solution]

Distiller is a 20 year old workflow that has been replaced by newer, better methods, but is still used occasionally in rare specialized instances. You probably don't need it. But Acrobat needs it, and some people still need it for the specialized reasons.

Here is a recent discussion (started by me!)

Print InDesign document to PostScript file

[JEL888]

So the      newer is yes because Acrobat needs it (because I don't foe the special reasons I've seen mentioned to include those in the discussion you mentioned, which I had see.  Thanks!  I won't delete it then. 

[Test Screen Name]

If you're in Windows Distiller is the engine behind making most PDFs, except those from Adobe's Creative Cloud apps. On no account delete it.

[JEL888]

Mine is on Mac, but as I understood from "jane-e" apparently Acrobat Pro needs Distiller to function correctly (and I assume on a Mac too), so I'll keep it.  Thanks both of you for your help!

[jane-e]

If you delete everything you "think" is bloat, you may find that software does not work as expected!

One way I try to reduce bloat is I never copy a system to a new computer. I copy files, but I always to fresh installs of software so that anything that does not need to be there does not port over.

I don't even copy my phone settings. When I sign in with my ID, my contacts, main mail account, iTunes, etc., come over. I install everything else.

[JEL888]

Hello,

I'm a somewhat experience PC user and I don't just delete things unnecessarily, but thanks for the advice.   That said, I have seen and confirmed that Adobe tends to put a lot of apps that I don't need (thus bloat for me) with downloads of their products (and that even if you have an option to unselect installing things).  So, I just wanted to make sure that that might not be the case with Distiller when I downloaded Acrobat Pro. 

[Memoir]

You need Distiller to prepare artwork for most newspapers, at least here in Australia. i.e., Custom job options. See Fairfax Media's Ad Specs​ for Print in a newspaper.

regards,

Marcus

[Dov Isaacs]

Pretty sad commentary on the workflows and knowledge of the Australian newspapers if that is really true! 

Following the link you provided and reading the specifications provided indicates absolute ignorance in terms of the technology, programs involved and how they work, and the quality of PDF produced via various methods.

The recommendation / requirement to product PDF from InDesign or Illustrator by saving an EPS file and then distilling same to PDF is absolutely ludicrous. There is absolutely nothing better about such PDF compared to PDF directly exported from InDesign or saved from Illustrator. Are these folks modern-day Rip Van Winkles?

          - Dov

[Guest]

Distiller may be able to convert PostScript into PDF, but there are new ways to convert them. You can now convert them in a safe online converter or possibly download a reliable app like Converter Bot. But some people still need it for their own purposes, so just either use Distiller or use something else.